The famous and prestigious French Winter meeting at Vincennes started Wednesday (Nov. 3) and will run until March 5.

During the period there will be 90 racing days at Vincennes with 745 trotting races from which 193 will be raced under saddle.

The total prize money will be 36.3 million Euros — or $42 million — an improvement of 3.3 percent from the last Winter meeting. The average prize money per race will be 48,800 Euros or $56,500.

As always, the Prix d’Amerique will be raced on the last Sunday in January — the 30th — with a total purse of 1 million Euros or $1.15 million.

On the first day of the Winter meeting, French leading trainer and multiple driver champion Jean Michel Bazire posted victory number 6,000 in a sulky race. Bazire won with his homebred 2-year-old trotter Jourdam Seven, a colt sired by Bird Parker.

Bazire has also won 472 times in under-saddle races.